Apocalypse Life/Issue 34
Issue 34 - Rental People, Part 2 Julius, Alice, and Marina walk down an empty block, with nothing but houses to their sides. Marina walked ahead of them, almost close to pacing and leaving the two behind. She was anxious of not finding the house, mostly because so many things have already happened in the past week, and she rarely visited it. Julius wondered why she wasn’t taking them to a store of some sort. But he’s trusted her this far. He turns to Alice, who seemed to look like she was having trouble with her brown hair; she kept trying to brush it with just her fingers, and it just added to the growing frizz. “I can’t see your eyes,” he tells her, a bit jokeful. Alice turns to face him; the way her face was buried reminded him of one of that hairy person from that one show called… Addam’s Family or something. Though her fingers were moving, she didn’t make any effort to show her eyes. She doesn't respond, and instead goes back to mending her hair. She probably just looked at him weirdly or something. Before he follows it with a compliment, Marina comes to a halt. She stands in front of a pink-stucco house and stuffs her hand into her pockets, turning to look at the two. Her eyes stay on Alice a little bit longer. “This is it.” Alice, by this time, has managed to brush enough of her hair to show her face. She and Julius look at each other, and follow Marina toward the front door. Marina stops at the mat, crouches down, and reaches under it. She takes a shiny little object out and uses it to open the door. -------- Alice and Julius wait in the living room, with Julius standing and pacing around, and Alice sitting down on the couch, trying to solve the problem of her hair. They were quiet for the most part, since Julius left Alice to it. She had a visible, idle look about her. “Julius…” she starts, and Julius turns to her attention. Alice pats the leather cushion to her right. He goes ahead and sits on it. Julius looks at her, while she continues her somber state. The combination of her distant eyes and messy hair made it all the more evident, like the hair wasn’t her only problem. “Julius what do you think of Marina…?” she asks, not bothering to look at him. “Marina?…” He looks at her weirdly, sensing something unusual with her tone. He couldn’t pinpoint it too well. “Yeah…” Alice lazily brushes her hair away from her face, pulling it back on her hair. It somehow felt like walking into a trap. Julius raises one eyebrow and says “Uh… yeah. She’s alright.” The way she just stood there, motionless, looking at Julius, made him uncertain of his answer. “What…?” “Don’t do anything funny with her…” Her low volume, coupled by her lazy tone, didn’t fully show her seriousness. But Julius was aware of what she's getting at nonetheless. She’s already put her hand on his lap, and her eyes were looking on his. But still, it looked like there was something missing. Julius smiles, and wraps his left arm around her shoulder. Alice’s look doesn’t change. “We just met her and you’re already warning me—” “''I’m serious''!” Her volume changes upon saying those words, yet her lazy look didn’t falter. “I—I’m just warning you now, just in case you get any ideas…” Though she was missing the usual, awake intensity Julius was aware of, her tone was enough to remind him. Coupled by her seemingly drowsy demeanor, she looked a bit adorable. Julius silently scoffs, and keeps his smile. Alice looked like she couldn’t even stretch a smile back. He pulls her closer to him, firming the hand on her opposite arm and rubbing it. He didn’t want to say it, since there was a better time, but him discovering that she was alive guarantees his eternal faithfulness to her. “Uh… guys?” Julius and Alice seize what they're doing, and transfer their looks over to Marina, who held two backpacks by its straps. She just looked at them weirdly, though a smirk was detectable. “Here’s the… food.” She hands a backpack to Julius, and he reaches for it while sitting. Traces of his smile were still there. “Okay, okay…” He rests the backpack onto his lap and opens the biggest pocket. He opens it, Alice stirring to his side to have a look with him. It was like opening a treasure chest. The contents glistened against their faces. They were packages, of… food. Piles and piles of them. From granola bars to trail mix… both their jaws drop, with Julius’s being a little bit lower. “Marina this is—” Julius looks up to her, his expression in disbelief. “Where’d—where’d you get all of this?” Marina wears a proud smirk, having seen the expression she expected. “Gathered over time. Got most of it when the panic started… figured I’d just scoop it off the shelves…” She remembered those days. It was kind of fun taking all of it like that without worrying about paying. “And this—” Julius takes it by the strap and feels its weight. It really felt like it was packed to the brim. “This is… ours?” Marina nods. “Mhm. Got plenty more right here.” She gestures to the strap of the other backpack on her shoulder. “I… stored it in this house. It was part of our… plan.” Hide food in a location she only knows, where they’d least expect it. A very important rule. Julius could only smile, and stare blankly into nothingness. All of that stress, looking for food… gone. “Thank you,” he says to her, waking up from his stare, though he’s still in disbelief. “Thank you, thank you…” He looks away, daydreaming those days when he’d scavenge, risking his life. He doesn’t even notice Alice taking the bag to have a closer look. “Welcome,” she replies. She still felt like it wasn’t enough to thank them for bringing her along, but it was good seeing their reaction nonetheless. ---- The three leave the house, hoping to not lose anymore daylight. Marina puts everything back in place, even the key under the mat. Julius checks off “food” from his imaginary check list. The next thing was a little bit harder; scout out the group that Marina had in mind. They had to keep an eye out for… a really tall guy, a guy with a suit, and a girl. Just a girl, no other significant description. They pass through the suburban area fairly quickly, getting into the more busy areas, where stores and other businesses could be seen in just about every corner. Marina tells them that she saw them around here, but this wasn't the place. They had to go all the way down the road, make at least one turn, and they’ll be there. She warns that there’ll be walkers there, no doubt. There were already some of them here, though, but they were scattered enough for them to not worry about. They each had a backpack and weapon in hand; Alice carries her sledgehammer, Julius his bat, and Marina, the concealed gun under her pocket. Julius looks at each of them as a sign to prepare and together, they jog through the road. They passed through the scattered walkers. Alice felt safe enough to observe the surroundings, which had numerous empty cars, and lots of leaves from the ground, coming from all the trees around them. A few small stores were to their left and right, separated by more roads and greenery. To her, they were too small to scavenge, but it doesn't hurt to check. The road seems to reveal something new each and every distance they cover, due to all the trees separating them. They were forced to stop once they see a grocer with a gigantic parking lot. There was a left turn they could make here. They paused and stared at all the things happening in the middle of it; something was stirring the walkers, like they were being flushed into some kind of hole. The three look at each other in wonder. Marina’s sure of it. They were probably the ones they were looking for. The ones she’s seen a day ago. The survivors. -------- “So we risk it, right?” Julius looks among the two girls, forming a three-person huddle. They stood near the lot’s sidewalk, next to a sign post. Their nervous looks gave him nothing. He’s the one who suggested they risk it; after all, they were people, and he just really wanted to believe that he had a plan going for this. But nothing was churning in his mind. All he’s thinking about is rushing it, like an idiot… He was started to get doubts from Alice, as she looked at him with wary eyes. Marina, on the other hand, looked away, deep in thought. She looks up at Julius, pointing at him. “Are you guys cool with… running to them?” Julius looks at her quizzically. That was his plan plan. “Yeah, but… that’s too rash—” “I’ll shoot my gun, maybe attract a few of them to me, then you guys get them out of there.” She spreads her look over to Alice. “How about that?” Julius puts his game face on. “Yeah. Alice?” She looks up to him, her disapproving eyes now changing to regret. She hesitantly nods, not bothering to look at Marina. She somehow solves her hair dilemma then and there when she pulls out a clip, and messily tucks her hair away into a knot in quick succession. “Alright, then…” Marina looks over at the thick pillars of the grocer. “You guys are gonna need to run near that entrance pathway. As for me…” ---- Walkers, all over the place. That's the summation of what Toni could gather, in what he’s seeing in front of him. He watched as Xavier tirelessly swung his fire axe in front of him, hacking and slashing through the seemingly endless mound. He hated these situations. When there was too damn many to shoot. “Toni!—” Xavier shouts, only managing to glance at him. "Any fucking day now!" He took some time in between his swings, but it did the job of holding them off; the way he swung it at their heads with ease was what's pretty much kept them at bay. “Shit, shit, shit…” Toni mutters repeatedly, as he finally decides to take out his pistol. He unloads the clip, and sees that he’s only down to three bullets. He doesn't want to call his old friend because... well, he fears he might mess it up his suit. God knows how long this shit takes cleaning it. And so he just stood there for a good moment, looking at the walkers and his hands. "Toni!!" Xavier shouts, a little fiercer this time, and it wakes him up from his thoughts. Toni gives him a befuddled look and quickly stuffs his pistol back on the inner pocket of his suit. No fucking choice. The whacker's back in business. He was reluctant in bringing his old buddy along, because he’s retired him a while ago. But he was glad to, because this might just be the thing that saves their asses. Toni's “whacker” is a slightly rusted, stainless steel wrench, having been used on numerous heads of named unfortunates. He's shed blood with this thing even before the world went to shit. He feels the wrench for a good moment and dashes to Xavier's assistance, swinging downward at the first walker he sees. He expected the thing to go down, with all that whacker force, but it didn’t; it just made a dent on its forehead. Toni would let go of hope for a second until he eyes Xavier again. The poor guy was sweating out of his head, and his distressed, gyrating movement reflected all his energy being used up. He swings downward one more time, afraid for a second that his old friend has failed him. But the sound of crackling bone and guts spilling out reinstated him back in business, just like that. Toni couldn't help but grow a smirk as he moves on to whack another walker, then another, then another. He alleviated Xavier's workload a bit after taking down the walkers all around him. But they just kept on fucking coming. Xavier only manages to get two seconds of breath before he returns to the matter at hand. A swing here, and a swing there. He had to have a target, or else he’d be blindly swinging, and the job won't be done. A thing he learned after weeks of practice. With Toni's help, they've managed to move up a bit; they have a chance to clear some more room now, and even then, they had a long way to go. The prospect of this particular fair-sized market was just too good to pass up. But now they can't even get inside. Xavier and Toni were paving their way through the mounds of walkers, the market's entrance faced on their backs. They were fighting these things because barring down the entrance was going to take some work: there was a good amount of nailed boards, shopping carts, and newspaper posts that blocked it. That, or maybe it was because they were so ignorant. Toni just suggested for them to run through the walkers and before they knew it, they were surrounded. Xavier really should stop listening to him. The two hacked and swung their way through the walkers, with hopes of alleviate the threat down. But they know their limits; sooner or later, they’ll be giving in to exhaustion. A new plan was going to have to be made soon. Xavier was just the man for that. “Toni—we need to—” He pauses, and obliterates a walker’s head with one swing. “—turn the fuck around and check the back doors!!” He was nearly out of breath, but the message got through nonetheless. Toni replies with a slightly more energetic "Fuck yes." They both turn around to return to their path, but the walkers they've left behind blocked it. They've been surrounded, right under their noses. Xavier turns to the walkers toward the market's entrance while Toni keeps the farther ones busy. Either way, barely any progress was made. Xavier wanted to believe his side had a thinner count, but his exhaustion was screaming at him. He swung, and started feeling the heaviness of his axe. To make things worse, Toni gets pinned by one of them. He was face to face with its yellow, rotten teeth, clamping at his face eagerly. Toni had it by the arms; he can only hold it in place, or else it’ll be chomping on his face by now. “Get—the fuck—” Toni swings the walker as best as he could, providing him with a bit of leeway from the other ones walking toward him. It was so damn close to his face that it could take a bite out of his nose. Xavier was his partner for a reason. Upon swinging it toward his direction, Xavier plants the blade of his axe at the back of its head, loosening the grip on his arms. Toni pushes it away from him as Xavier yanks axe out to finish it. "Thanks, buddy," he says to him, brushing the sides of his arms as if that was going to clean it up. Xavier was a guy he could count on, but he wants to believe he’s just paying him back for all those other times he’s saved him. He didn't get a reply back from Xavier, though. Instead, he just saw him slowly backing up from the makeshift wall of walkers edging toward him. “Oh, shit…” Toni mutters under his breath. He doesn't know how they're going to fight over that, and by the looks of Xavier, he doesn't know either. They look at each other, tighten the grip of their weapons, and hoped for the best. Xavier does the honors of swinging at the first walker, with Toni following it up. They were about to say whatever last words they could when they hear a gunshot, louder than the collective moans of these freaks. They both look at the right corner of the grocer, where it was the loudest. Nothing to see, but just the heads of more walkers. Then, the wall in front of them started to unravel. A few turned away, heading toward the sound. It was enough for both of them to see through the thinning wall, where... two figures were standing. They look at each other again and prepare to meet these two head on, the walkers standing in between them. A walker to Toni's right eye has its head quickly thrown to the ground, after a fierce swing of something heavy. It came from a... brown-haired girl, her hair messily tucked away into a clip. She wore nearly leather everything, save for her pants, and... that sledgehammer on her two hands. Both Toni and Xavier could only stare in awe as the strangers thinned the walkers down for them, with near ease. The other guy finally appears before their eyes, semi-long black hair, green jacket, the whole business much like the girl right next to her. The only difference was that he had a steel bat, and it seemed to have done the job of dazing two walkers to the ground. "C'mon!" he shouts, not wasting any time. Behind them, the blocked entrance door never stood so clearer. Xavier and Toni don't hesitate, and they follow the two young people, jogging along right behind. These two dressed and moved alike, to Toni’s eyes. Hell, they were even the same height. It was easy to assume for him that they're... brother and sister. They changed into a sprint as they ran through the clear pathway for them, toward the side of the building, where a distant figure wearing a blue hoodie waited for them. ---- The five people find themselves stopping at the back of the grocer, where a half-wall spanning the whole building stood, nearly concealed by all of the shrubbery above it. There was an unpleasant smell coming from the two dumpsters beside them, but with the smell of corpses pretty much dulling their noses all these weeks, this was nothing. The two, Toni especially, looked completely out of breath once they arrived there. The three them waited as Toni held up a finger, slightly bent down, his chest heaving. He breathes heavily for a few seconds, then starts wheezing out of his lungs. They all look at him with concern. Toni was about ready to stop, when he puts his finger up again and continues to wheeze. He was practically bent down by this point. “J-Jeezus H.—” he finally manages to say, putting his hand down. He clears his throat a few times and rubs on his chest. He hocks, then spits to his side, signaling the end of his coughing. “Arright, guys…” His voice was a little hoarse, as he looks onward to the siblings and the blue girl. “Thanks fer… savin’ us back there.” Xavier looks at him disapprovingly at first, before turning toward them. “Yeah… shit. I…” He rubs his bare head. “I’d—we’d probably be dead if you guys didn’t intervene.” Toni digs his hand inside his suit and comes out with a carton of cigarettes. He slips the top open and reveals that there were only three left. He takes one out and clasps it with the corner of his mouth, all while offering it to the rest of these people. None of them wanted any. Xavier just looked at him weirdly. He puts the carton back on his pocket and trades it for a lighter. “So…” He lights up his cigarette. “Who uh… who are ya kids?” The three of them look at each other, finally signifying their turn to speak. “I’m uh… Julius,” the young man says first. He transfers a look to Alice, but the way she shyly looked told him that she didn’t want to speak. “M-Marina,” the girl beside Julius says. It takes a bit of time before the third girl finally reveals her name. “Alice,” she says, but her voice was so low, Toni had to lean in a bit. “Well I’m Xavier,” Xavier says, putting a hand on his chest. “And this guy charged for racketeering over ten states is… Toni.” Toni furrows his eyebrows as he put his cigarette down and blew smoke out of his nose. “Racketeering? That’s rich…” He maintains his expression before looking away and smirking, like he recalled a memory of some sort. Xavier shakes his head. The kids weren’t weirded out one bit. “A-anyway…” He turns around to glance at the back door behind him. “We were… tryin’a get inside this grocer, maybe search it. But the entrance is blocked.” He looks among the three, and they respond with their own expressions. “Toni.” Xavier turns to Toni and motions his head toward the door. Toni nods, takes a long puff of his cigarette, and flicks it away. He walks over to the door and tugs a few times, before opening it completely. “If you guys help us, there’ll be some supplies in it for you.” Julius looks at Marina, trying to telepathically communicate their original plan with them. Xavier looks in between them, waiting patiently. Toni was casually leaning against the door. “We, uh…” Marina responds. “We’d like to help. S-sure.” She glances at Julius, doubting that she might’ve said the wrong words. “Great. C’mon.” Xavier holds his axe with both hands and turns toward the entrance, where it revealed nothing but darkness. Xavier enters first, followed by Julius, then Alice, then lastly, Marina. Toni continues to lean against the door, and upon realizing that he’s the last, he looks around for something to hold it. He finds a dirty pail and sets it against the door. Once he sees that it works, he follows the rest shortly. -------- The lighting started to dwindle once they’ve stepped out a considerable distance from the back door. Their limited vision made all of them uneasy. They didn’t even know where they were going, until Xavier makes solid contact with a wall. He feels the rough exterior with his hands, and points to his left. They were at some kind of hallway, according to what he’s visualizing. “Toni,” he whispers, though the footsteps behind him block it out. “Toni,” he tries again, this time leaning his head toward the end. “Wha?” he replies. “Gimme your lighter.” Toni reaches for it through his pockets and slips his way through the people, delivering it to Xavier. Xavier puts his axe aside and takes a bit of time before a getting a hold of the lighter. He takes a few tries to flick it on, and once he finally succeeds, he stretches his arm as far as he can, carrying the flame with it. The light from the small flame was surprisingly strong. That, or the place was just really dark. Xavier, and everyone else behind him, look eagerly at what was ahead. The light illuminates a pair of eyes… from a distance. It was a walker, with a bunch more… other walkers. The shuffling seemed busy once it catches wind of them. The numerous groans confirmed it. “Go back! Walkers!” Xavier shouts. He flicks the lighter closed right away and follows everyone in front of him closely. They all run for the exit, their matching speed helping them ease out of there fairly quickly. ---- That grocer was nothing but swarmed. They had no choice but to leave. The five people make a stop at a small parking lot of what looked like a small, two-story office, with trees just as tall standing to its sides. Marina and Alice sat on the sidewalk, talking to each other; Marina seemed to be quite interested in her clip, as she would occasionally look and touch it. Toni was busy peeking through the parked cars. Xavier and Julius stand beside each other, on top of the handicapped parking zone, looking at the building. “So it’s only you three?” he asks. His hands were behind his pockets. “Yeah,” Julius replies, nodding. Xavier takes a bit of time to reply, thinking of his next words. “We… we got a group. Down by this rental building.” Xavier takes his hands off his pockets and folds them together. “Been holding up since this started. Just been a month, but… we all know each other pretty well.” Xavier smirks at the thought of it. “We got another one of ours out there. She’s always the one alone.” Julius was silent the whole time, just ready to respond. “We can… really use some help. I’ll make it worth your while…” Xavier looks among the two girls, then Toni. “… help us get her back, and y’all can come back with us in the camp. Send you off with some supplies.” Julius pauses for a second, looking down, then nods. It’s not quite what they’re looking for. Maybe if they get to the camp, they can talk it over. “Anything we can do to help. We’re up for it.” Xavier grows a smirk. He could just feel it, sitting back at the building, letting these guys handle it. But he’s getting way too ahead of himself. “Great.” He lays his hand out for Julius, and he firmly shakes it. “Toni,” Xavier calls, and the two separate. Toni, leaning against the side of a car by this point, catches his attention. “They’ll help us find Lina. Just gotta pay ’em off with some supplies.” Toni looks amongst the trio. Not the hoodlum type, pretty young… they could use more people like that. “They don’t look like bad people. Y’know how much we need some extra hands…” A half-smirk forms in his mouth. “Nah,” Xavier replies, looking along with Toni. “It’s up to them if they wanna stay. Still gotta talk it over with Paul.” Toni stops leaning against the car. “Yep…” “Now c’mon. Gotta look for Lina before the sun sets.” ---- Category:Apocalypse Life Category:Apocalypse Life Issues Category:Issues Category:KnowledgeProspector Stories